This invention relates generally to vegetable slicers, and more specifically to an onion slicer for domestic use or for catering establishments, and has for its object the provision of an appliance which will permit for instance one or more onions to be sliced into pieces of suitable size for a contemplated culinary purpose without causing the user to be inconvenienced by the sharp or biting smell of the cut vegetable.
The onion slicer proposed by the present invention comprises a drum-shaped body composed of a bottom part forming a base and a removable upper part containing fixed radially disposed bars forming a grating, a rotatable cutter shaft, and a plurality of knife blades attached to said cutter shaft and adapted to pass through the gaps between neighboring bars when said shaft is rotated.
In order to use an onion slicer which is thus contrived the user need merely take off the upper part of the drum-shaped body from its bottom part, place the vegetable, such as one or more onions, into the bottom part, replace the upper part and turn the shaft, for instance by means of a crank, once or several times. The knife blades will then cut through the onions and pass through the grating which retains the cut slices so that these can be reentrained and carried against the grating again where they are cut a second and third time as the shaft continues to turn. This action can be repeated as often as required until the onions have been cut to small pieces. The upper part of the drum-shaped body can then be taken off and the sliced vegetable taken or poured out of the bottom part. Since the hollow cylindrical body remains tightly closed during the slicing operation the user is not inconvenienced by watering eyes.
In a specially useful embodiment of the invention the shaft, a crank handle attached to one end of the shaft, and the bars of the grating all form components of the upper part of the appliance. When the upper part is removed it therefore allows unobstructed access to the bottom part forming the base.
It is preferred to dispose the bars of the grating in such a way that the slices will drop by gravity into the base each time they are cut. This enables the slices to be reentrained and recut against the bars of the grating in a different position at each revolution of the knife blades.
With advantage the internal surface of the drum-shaped body may be formed with grooves for the reception of the tips of the knife blades as they sweep around the interior. The cut will then always extend across the entire diameter of a vegetable such as an onion.
It may be found useful to stagger the knife blades on the shaft, or to give them a curved shape or to provide them with two cutting edges for the purpose of improving their slicing action.